DePaul esports team competing in BIG EAST League of Legends spring season

DePaul's League of Legends Esports team. Top row (L-R): Freshman Kamil Gebis, junior Hank Ha, junior Sam Ishaq and junior Conor Miller. Bottom row (L-R): Freshman Lee Te, junior Nate Vicencio and sophomore manager Brandon Son. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)After finishing second in the inaugural BIG EAST Esports Invitational last spring, the DePaul League of Legends team is back in action this winter and spring against fellow BIG EAST foes in an extended conference season.

Competition got underway Jan. 20 and will run through March 17. Through two weeks, DePaul is a perfect 6-0 with victories over Seton Hall, Marquette and Providence. The Blue Demons next play at approximately 5:30 p.m. Feb. 17 against St. John’s. Fans can watch all the action on Twitch. More information is available online through the BIG EAST website.

“What’s really helped us start 6-0 is the teamwork and effort our guys are putting into playing,” says sophomore Brandon Son, the DePaul League of Legends team manager. “They are always practicing together, finding new strategies and learning new moves. They’ve really bonded as a team and it’s paid dividends so far.

“We are all so excited to be representing DePaul by playing a game we all love. It’s a dream come true,” adds Son.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game with five players per team. Matches are usually 30 to 45 minutes each, with one team needing to win two of three matches to claim victory.

Rocket League Update

DePaul's Rocket League Esports team. Left side (T-B): Freshman Emilio Pilapil and junior Linas Savickas. Right side (T-B): Sophomore Alex Rodriguez and junior Erik Wolf. Not pictured: Don Fairweather. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)In December, DePaul’s Rocket League team finished third in the BIG EAST Championship. The Blue Demons finished the regular season in first place with an 11-0 record, but fell to eventual champion Butler in the semifinals to wrap up the year at 11-1.

Rocket League games, which end when one team has won three of five matches, can last anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes and combine soccer with the physics of driving flying cars in a multiplayer game with three players per team.

About Esports

Esports, or competitive video gaming, has exploded in the last five years, resulting in an industry that's heading towards the billion-dollar mark and sees an estimated 165 million people around the world watching at least once a month according to a Newzoo global Esports market report.

Around the country, more than 100 universities field varsity teams, with DePaul's Loop neighbor, Robert Morris University Illinois, fielding the first varsity program in the country in 2014.

For more information on esports at DePaul, email esports@depaul.edu or follow @DePaulEsports on Twitter.